11.   At one stage these key agreements appeared jeopardized by the intransigence of the United Kingdom government over the inclusion of social policy in the union treaty.

12.   Lukashenko is the driving force behind the union treaty.

13.   Substantively, though, the union treaty is long on flourishes and all but devoid of political union, at least anytime soon.

14.   The incident with Lukashenko raised questions about the fate of a union treaty between Belarus and Russia signed earlier this year.

15.   A new union treaty, with Germany pressing for closer integration, is due to be finalized mid-June in Amsterdam.

16.   A joint Russian-Belarusian parliamentary assembly tentatively approved the draft union treaty last week.

17.   A union treaty signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Lukashenko earlier this month falls far short of the full-fledged reunification that Lukashenko had sought.

18.   A union treaty that further strengthens renewed ties between Russia and Belarus took effect Wednesday, praised by officials as a model of reintegration between former Soviet republics.

19.   A Russia-Belarus union treaty signed late last year created a loose union between the two countries.

20.   After signing the union treaty will Belarus, Yeltsin already has pledged to work so as to ensure democracy and freedom of speech in the neighboring Slav republic.